Taxi aggregator Ola Cabs has laid off 250 people from its workforce, PTI reported on Monday. The move, which a company spokesperson called a part of the “natural churn” in the ride-hailing industry, was announced weeks after 700 people were sacked following the merger of Ola’s TaxiForSure operations with itself. The spokesperson for the company said that “performance driven exits” and “contract roles” were some of the reasons behind the layoffs.

He further said the decision to remove the affected employees from the ride-hailing service’s workforce was a “well-thought through” organisational decision that had considered both employees and business efficiencies. However, the spokesperson emphasised that Ola plans to hire at least 300 more people across various cities in the country “to strengthen our 6,000-plus strong team”. The move comes as the company continues to cut costs to compete with its chief rival, Uber. It was earlier reported that the Bengaluru-based company aggregator was also in talks to raise $300 million-$400 million (approximately Rs 1,994 crore- Rs 2,659 crore) in funding from investors.

Uber has made strategic moves in India following its exit from China after the sale of its operations there to local competitor Didi Chuxing. In August, the California-based company introduced its "Dial an Uber" allowing potential riders to book a taxi through a mobile website. It also announced a new feature allowing the users of its mobile applications to book a cab for a person in a different location.